These two books have become phenomenally successful among women lately, thanks to the power of Oprah. I thought I'd check them out to see what all the hype is about. I've heard glowing recommendations about Eat, Pray, Love, and how it has changed people's lives. I also have friends who are Deceptively Delicious disciples, with freezers stocked full of purees to sneak into meals for their kids.I borrowed a copy of EPL and was immediately swept away by the first section of the book about the author's months in Italy. Her writing was engaging and beautiful and I enjoyed living vicariously through her travelogue of unplanned adventures. Her descriptions of the Neapolitan pizza and becoming the quintissential crazy aunt were hilarious. Some friends were even kind enough to indulge me as I read the paragraphs out loud, they were that good. But as I moved on to the sections about India and Indonesia, her writing got more bland and I found it narcissitic and a bit self-aggrandizing. I felt bad that she'd had such a rough go, but lots of people have hard lives and manage to make it through and find meaning in their lives without being so fortunate as to be able to take a year off and travel the globe on a mission of self-actualization. As a travelogue it was interesting, but definitely not life changing for me. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts if you had a different (or similar) reaction to EPL.
When I first saw Deceptively Delicious, I thought that it was something I'd definitely be interested in. I'm all about healthy eating and finding ways to encourage Ben to try new foods. When he was little I made lots of my own baby food by cooking veggies and freezing them in ice cube trays. After borrowing the book from a friend the whole process seemed a bit time intensive and some of the foods didn't look all that appetizing. Maybe I'm just lazy and would rather just cut up some fruit or veggies and served them raw or steamed. Then last weekend I read an article that I found interesting. Granted, it's by the food critic for The Wall Street Journal, who has a much more cultured palate than most, but he brought up some valid points.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120130461452618137.html?mod=weekend_journal_primary_hs
They tested some of the recipes and he offered the opinion that we should not be hiding fruits and vegetables from our kids. If we do, how will they ever learn to appreciate their flavor and learn to eat them independently, which is our goal. He also made the point that over 1/3 of the recipes in the book were for desserts, and are desserts really that much healthier with a little fruit or vegetable puree? I wonder if we're feeling guilty about our children not eating a perfectly balanced diet, when it's just part of being a kid. I hated almost all fruits growing up (I still don't particularly like canteloupe or honeydew and can only eat peaches canned), but now like most of fruits and veggies I try. It's just a part of maturing. I am by no means discouraging parents from using purees or continuing to try to feed their kids different foods, even if they've refused them in the past. It's just with our modern society, foods are pumped full of additives and kids already don't know where many foods come from. They deserve to see things in as close to a natural state as possible. What do you think about this topic?
P.S. The Ominvore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle are good books about the whole idea of eating naturally. A little yuppy and elitist, yes, but thought-provoking nonetheless.
5 comments:
I thought the same thing about deceptively delicious when I looked at in Costco. It also doesn't seem like throwing in a little puree ads that much nutrients. Of course, I could be wrong about that. Maybe I'd try it if my kids stopped eating broccoli and carrots.
Love your posts, Nollie.
i'm sure this comes as no surprise to you, but i have a lot to say on this topic, so i'll try to be brief. after seeing jessica seinfeld on the today show and oprah, i checked out the book from the library to see what the fuss was all about.
so here's my take on it: i am ALL for making something that was not as healthy be healthier. if i can make a decadent dessert that tastes good but is also much less fat, by all means, i'm gonna do it. i use whole wheat flour in any baking i do. i sometimes crumble tofu into my girls' mac and cheese (whole wheat pasta of course) and they love it. it's kind of like ricotta cheese when you do it that way. i also toss vegetables in wherever i can. the difference between jessica and i (other than the obvious ones!) is that my kids are NOT picky eaters. they pretty much will eat any food i fix for them, so i don't have to worry about hiding the vegetables. i thought jessica's idea was very flawed though, until i read in her book that in addition to pureeing and hiding the vegetables in the foods, she also serves a side of veggies with every meal so that her kids will see that they are important. her hope is that eventually they will come to like the "un-hidden" ones and not have to hide so much stuff!
sorry, that was NOT brief. and i still could definitely go on and on. . .
Funny you should mention EPL because I'm currently reading it. I loved the first part about Italy but now I'm struggling to get through India. As I was reading it last night, I was thinking how weird it is that all of the sudden, it's not that great anymore.
My mom gave me this book for Christmas. Like Mer said, Jessica Seinfeld says she's just trying to augment kids' diets until they acquire a taste for veggies on their own. She still recommends putting out veggies with the meal. Luckily Madi's never been a picky eater, so she gets all her servings of veggies a day. If any of my other kids ARE picky eaters, though, I will totally use some of these recipes (or at least the idea) in addition to the table vegetables I make for the rest of us. That's my $.2.
I'm with you on sneaking fruits and vegetables into their diets. I just don't see how that's going to help them like them more. My kids will eat just about anything if they can dip it in ranch dressing. Whatever it takes to get them started.
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